MILWAUKEE— With the 3rd Street Market Hall officially open, there is new life on the west end of downtown Milwaukee. The market hall opened Friday following several months of delays.
The 3rd Street Market Hall occupies the space of the former Grand Avenue Mall, which closed in 2018 after years of declining business and growing store vacancy rates.
People lined up Friday afternoon to try out the new food offerings. Andrea Louthan was among them, getting a fish fry from new vendor, Dairyland. As she ate her lunch, she said she is pleased to see activity once again returning to the space.
“I’ve been shopping here for a long time, then it closed and now to see that they are revitalizing it with all this food, games, and stuff to do, they even have bags so I will be back!” said Louthan.
For vendors, there is reason to be excited as well. Edgar Cuarezma owns Amano Pan, a bakery located inside the market hall. While there are opening day jitters, he said he has been calmed by the overwhelming support he has seen from other vendors and market hall staff.
“I can’t imagine I would be doing that from scratch, by yourself, a lot of support so I am grateful for that experience.” said Cuarezma.
The 3rd Street Market Hall currently has about a half dozen vendors, with more slated to open in the coming months.